The Element Chronicles: Legend of the Silver Shard
by forestnymph9101
Summary: Four friends team up to get the Silver Shard, a legendary object that is said to give the owner great power.
1. Chapter 1

The Element Chronicles

The smell… the rustle of leaves… the tension… it must be _him_. The village suddenly quieted down. They were completely silent. In a matter of seconds they had taken all their goods and supplies and deposited them safely inside, where they too lay hiding. When _he_ came nothing was ever left outside. The busy village would become a ghost town.

People peered through cracks in window blinds, to see what was going on. It was a quiet summer afternoon in the village just south of the Earth Kingdom capital. All they could see on the horizon was a black speck that was moving around in the forest. They called him Jaz: the thief, the bandit, the low-life. His silhouette could be seen heading towards the village, on foot, as a trail of dust followed him. Jaz was an Earthbender, and a very good one too.

The people in the village made sure that their doors were locked as Jaz neared their houses. He appeared to be moving on a piece of rock, and at an incredible speed.

Just as he came to the front of the village, Jaz jumped off the rock and stood up straight, inspecting his surroundings.

He was tall, and had a scarf around his mouth and nose. He appeared to be smiling under it, and heaved a sigh before he broke out, laughing.

"Pathetic townspeople! This is the welcome I get after I protect your town from bandits and robbers?" Jaz said, still smiling.

"You're the thief around here, you creep!" shouted someone from behind a locked door.

"So, you want hundreds of robbers to wonder to your village, instead of just one? And at what measly price? Some food? Some water? A little supplies? A man needs these necessities to live a safe and healthy life!"

"What we need to live a safe and healthy life is you getting out of it!" cried another citizen of the village.

"Still… no respect! I need to teach you a lesson!" Jaz shouted, as he stomped his foot and pushed his right hand forward, making a trail of rocks and soil from his feet all the way to the door of the house the voice came from. Some shouts and cries were heard from inside, as a part of the building caved in.

"You monster!" a woman's voice boomed, as she opened her home's door behind Jaz.

"What did you call me?" Jaz shouted, using his bending to lift a nearby rock, hurling it into the house. "Do you want any more, or is it my turn to receive presents?"

"We'll never give you anything!" a villager shouted. "Yesterday we sent a scout to the capital to warn the King of what is happening to our village!"

"The King won't have time to look into your problems. He has other matters to attend to. And, as I said before, I am your protector. Without me, your village would be gone by now."

"How can you call yourself our protector when you just destroyed two houses?" the villager added.

"What meager price two houses is compared to the price you would have to pay if every single robber had no one to fear when they came to this village?"

"What do you mean?"

"Before I came to these parts, hundreds of robbers would come to your village and steal. I would watch them. Most went unnoticed by you, but I saw all of them. Now, no thieves come to your village because I am in the way."

"So, are you saying that you're not a thief? What a lie!"

"No, I am not. I have fought to make your village a safe place… all I ask for is a small token of your appreciation."

The villagers remained quiet. Could they believe him? They hadn't noticed anyone stealing before, so why should they? Then again, some small incidents had occurred, and many villagers had complained about losing some supplies and food. Could they have "hired" a guardian of the village without even noticing? Could they actually give this thief food and drink? Afterall, he had just destroyed two houses… maybe even injuring… or killing villagers. They thought about what to do.

"Elder," one said, "What do you think?"

An old man, probably in his nineties, came out of a small hut, escorted by two villagers.

"The elder is the wisest out of all of us," the villager continued, "He will decide."

The old man stepped towards Jaz, resting on his walking stick.

"Young man," he began, "What you say sounds honest, and I believe you, but…"

Jaz frowned.

"We need to conduct a meeting to see how much we can offer you for your 'protection'." The elder continued.

"I need as much as you can give." Jaz stated. "But, do you mind if you decide faster?"

"Don't rush the elder!" called someone out.

Jaz sighed and crossed his arms. The villagers started talking to each other, as many went into the elder's hut, to do the meeting. Jaz waited outside, kicking a rock around in his boredom. A few minutes passed, and the elder and some villagers came out of the hut.

"Our decision is favoring you." The elder said. "We will give you…"

His sentence was cut off by a shower of arrows and a violent shaking of the ground.

"Shit!" Jaz exclaimed, as one arrow grazed his shoulder. He ducked down, and army crawled next to a boulder. By now he could see the source of the arrows- Earth Kingdom troops. The scout must have reached the capital, and the news must have been delivered. Jaz could see some archers, as well as some Earthbenders, lined up, ready to attack.

Jaz got up and lifted the boulder with his bending, making it land on a few troops. Next, another round of arrows was launched, right toward Jaz. He quickly lifted up a wall of rock from the ground, which protected him. Clenching his wound, he jumped over the wall when the arrows stopped, and positioned himself for an attack. He opened up his right hand, so his palm was facing down, and brought it to the ground with incredible force. As he did so, the ground shook a bit, and about 20 troops were thrown into the air, as rocks and soil shot up under them. A few more arrows came down, and Jaz noticed that most archers were in trees in the forest behind the village. It would be harder to take them down from there, but Jaz probably could pretty easily. Even so, he had no patience to, because it all got wasted on waiting for the elder and the villagers to decide if he could be supplies with food and drink. Jaz decided to run… it was much easier and his energy wouldn't be wasted. He crawled under some bushes, and made his way to the forest, while constantly being fired on. He managed to get to the end of the village, and there, right in front of the archers, made a short speech.

"Esteemed villagers! Listen to me now!" he said, ducking as another arrows whizzed past him. "Your protector will not be able to assist you any more! I am very sorry, but I must save my ass, before I can save yours!"

Jaz quickly scrambled behind the archers, into the forest, where he jumped up on a branch, and sprang from tree to tree, still dodging the arrows of the archers who had turned around. He kept running away, until the arrows stopped and he came to a clearing.

Jaz turned around, facing the direction of the village and said proudly, sticking up both his middle fingers, " Eat my shit, Earth Kingdom scum!"


	2. Chapter 2

Jaz rolled over in his sleeping bag. It had fallen into a ditch during the night from its once cozy place on top of a flat rock. The rock had a stream on one side and the now occupied ditch on the other.

"I need…" Jazz said, as his nose brushed against the dirt in the ditch. "Sake."

He snored loudly and then rolled over on his back. Now, his face had come in contact with mud and was all smeared and covered. He soon felt the brown goo on his face and blinked a couple of time. He opened his mouth, feeling something on his lower lip, and let his tongue venture there.

"Eww! Gross!" he said, jumping up in his sleeping bag. With no control over his legs, he hit a rock and came crashing down, face in a pile of mud. "Shit! Not a nice was to wake up!"

Jaz eased out of the sleeping bag and put his hands on his face. "Eww! Eww! Eww! I need to take a bath!"

Jaz looked toward the other side of the rock- the side with the water. His eyes narrowed as he saw that the water was muddy and looked brackish. "Shoot! Why couldn't I find a better stream!" He headed over to his sleeping bag where he had stowed a bottle of sake.

"Thank heaven!" he said, hugging the bottle and gulping it down. As he was drinking, his face turned towards the ditch. A bit beyond it was another stream… a bigger one. It almost looked clear.

"Score!" cried Jaz jumping up, and letting some sake spill on his shirt. He wiped his mouth and packed the sack he carried on his back. He grabbed the muddy sleeping bag and shoved it into the sack. He made sure his swords were in their sheaths and started walking along the newly found stream, southward.

Jaz walked for a couple of minutes before he found the water clear enough to take a bath in. He set his bags aside and took off his belt. He looked around. He looked back from where he came… downstream. He looked to the right, to the left, and finally in front. His scan of his surroundings stopped there, as he laid eyes on a figure crouched next to the stream, about thirty meters away. He squinted in the dim light and then blinked a couple of times. Suddenly, the figure had disappeared.

"I must be imagining th-" Jaz was cut off. He couldn't breath. Something was around his neck.

"What the hell." He said hoarsely, falling to his knees as his air supply ran short. The thing around his neck followed him down. This object was a rope, fixed firmly in place by two dark hands.

"Say bye." Came a deep voice from behind him.

Calling up all his strength, Jaz clenched his fists and brought them down fast, making the ground in back of him shoot up.

The thing that was strangling him groaned as it smashed to the ground, followed by some rocks.

Jaz turned around and saw it was a person. He had dark skin, a blue outfit, and laid there with his eyes closed. Jaz came closer.

"Dude… are you-" Jaz was swung over into a tree. Something had hit his side.

Jaz blinked, clutching his side, as he saw the figure stand tall, waving some water around in the air.

"You! You hit me!" cried Jaz.

"Baby." Called the deep voice.

"What! I'm no baby!"

"You sure sound like one. Now, get up here and fight! Or… are you scared?"

"No, I'm not scared! I'll have you know that I'm the strongest Earthbender in these parts!"

"Oh, the strongest Earthbender, huh? Well, I'm not weak myself." Said the man, collecting the water in a ball which floated above his hands. "Let's see what you're made of, baby!"

The figure flung the ball of water at Jaz, who put his hand out, making a wall of rock come up before him. The water smashed against it, as Jaz got up and made the wall rush toward the man.

The man just dodged it, and jumped up, pulling a sword from his belt. In a second he came down, right next to Jaz who would have had his head cut off if he hadn't dodged the blow.

"Wow you're fast." Complimented Jaz.

"Thanks. You're not slow yourself… or are you?" said the figure, striking another blow at Jaz's feet, as Jaz jumped up.

"I left my belt by the stream. I'm so dumb. It had my swords on it." Thought Jaz.

"I got it!" Jaz shouted out loud, as the earth shook and a tiny crevice formed in the ground, leading to his belt. Suddenly a rock sprang up under it, making it jump up into the air. The figure looked at the belt. This distraction gave Jaz the chance to leap over to it and grab a sword.

"Prefer swords, don't you?" asked Jaz.

"How did you guess?" laughed the man, stabbing at Jaz.

"What's your name, foe?" said Jaz, dodging and giving the figure a blow.

"I guess I could tell you, considering you'll never live to tell anyone." The man said as he kept fighting.

"You'll be the one dying!" Another blow.

"Yeah, right! The name's Itashi. Your's?" Dodge.

"Jaz." One more strike.

They fought until Jaz flung his sword at Itashi's, making both weapons fall behind them.

"Swords are for babies!" retaliated Jaz.

"OK then. I was going easy on you. Now that that's settled, I'll kill you!" Itashi declared, thrusting another ball of water that he had made in a split second into Jaz's stomach. They came like lightning. One after the other. One ball of water went to Jaz's face, another came at his feet, tripping him. Jaz fell back, blood dripping from his mouth and nose. He felt dizzy. The pain was swelling up inside of him, and as it did so did his anger.

How could this thug beat him up like that? He wasn't better than Jaz. He had to fight back.

Jaz shook his head violently, shaking off the pain and dizziness and leaving only his thirst for revenge.

Seeing that Jaz had regained his senses, Itashi cast another ball at him. He was sure it would finish Jaz off, but to his surprise the ball stopped as it floated in front of Jaz's hand.

The ball was now light brown, and not the regular blue of water. Something had changed it. Jaz smiled a wicked smile. He had taken some sand from the shore and had called it to encircle the ball, turning it into an object he himself could control. Now, as Itashi watched in amazement, more sand gathered around the ball, making it a massive sphere that was floating in mid-air.

With a weak laugh, Jaz sent it flying towards Itashi. Itashi moved to one side, but the ball followed him. He went behind a rock, but the sphere still followed. A loud crash was heard, accompanied by a splash of water.

The action was out of Jaz's view but he knew it was a victory on his part. He smiled and came closer. He went behind the rock.

There, he saw something incredible. The sphere of sand had been split in two. It was hollow. In the middle stood Itashi, face looking at the ground. There was not a scratch on him. Itashi smiled, and looked up at Jaz, as Jaz looked at Itashi in awe.

"You've passed the test." Said Itashi. "You are now worthy."


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you mean?" asked Jaz, looking at Itashi, scared. "I'm worthy? Worthy of what? I sure think I'm worthy of making fun of you!"

Jaz pointed and laughed. "Fatso!"

"That was not nice." Said Itashi, who wasn't fat, but had a huge frame. "Didn't your mom teach you your manners, baby?"

Itashi grabbed Jaz by the collar, spitting into his face as he insulted him.

"Um… I… sure bet your's didn't." making a hurt and disgusted face when he noticed it was a pathetic comeback.

"Now, say you're sorry. Or else I'll withdraw my offer."

"What offer?"

"I wanted you to join my team." Stated Itashi proudly.

"Your what? You have a team!" Jaz started laughing. "What for, ballet?"

"No, but I sure think you would join if it were!"

Jaz looked at Itashi. Itashi looked at Jaz, but with a mean glare in his eyes.

"So, are you gonna tell me what your "team" is for?" asked Jaz, trying to act unaffected by Itashi's statement.

"I guess I should." Said Itashi, putting Jaz down. "I am on a quest for power. A quest for the legendary Silver Shard!"

Itashi had said this dramatically, proud of his goal. He smiled at Jaz, waiting for him to accept the invitation into his "team".

"Um… what's the Silver Shard?" asked Jaz, looking confused.

Itashi suddenly frowned and looked menacingly at Jaz. "What do you mean you don't know what the Silver Shard is? It's only the most sought after legendary object there ever was!"

"And… why do you want it?"

"Why do I want it?" repeated Itashi, laughing. "It gives the owner power without boundaries. Even an amateur bender would become stronger than an Avatar who has mastered all elements. They would gain utmost mastery over their native element."

"That sounds cool." Said Jaz, not too enthusiastic because of the word "legendary". "So why do you need me?"

"Because, legend has it, that to get to the Shard, you need to pass many obstacles and complete many challenges. I've heard that the only way to pass is if you have mastery over all the elements. In other words, it can be either the Avatar, or one expert bender from every nation."

"So, you want me to join your treasure hunt and risk my life to help you get that Shard?"

"Well, I would like you to join me on my quest."

Jaz made a thoughtful face before answering, "Um… forget it."

"What! But I really need you!"

"You really need me? You almost killed me!"

"But you proved yourself worthy by beating me."

"I didn't beat you! You would've won anyway." Jaz was not the type to admit a defeat but he really didn't want to go along with Itashi.

Itashi sighed and fell to his knees, "Please… I've been looking for a worthy Earthbender for the past year with no luck. Please join."

Jaz looked at Itashi, who's head was bowed down to the ground.

"Do I have to?" though Jaz, "I mean, this guy has to be crazy if he thinks that Shard thing actually exists. But then again, if it does, it sure sounds awesome."

"I'll think about it, OK?" said Jaz, as Itashi got up.

"Thank you!" said Itashi, his eyes filling with tears.

"Don't mention it."

Itashi walked around Jaz, talking to himself, "Now, if I could only find an Airbender and a Firebender."

"You haven't found anyone yet?"

"No."

"Oh, and you suppose I'll help you look for someone?"

"Well, I wasn't thinking that, but because you're so nice to volunteer… I accept!" said Itashi laughing.

"What! I never said anything like that!"

"Well, do you have anything better to do?" said Itashi looking at Jaz's empty backpack by the stream. "You don't have any necessary supplies… just some booze."

"Sake. It's hard to get drunk from it. I need to drink at least a bottle. That's why I carry a lot."

Itashi looked at Jaz, thinking how the hell someone like that would survive out in the forest. "How about we go to the nearest village and get some supplies?"

"Oh, no! You wouldn't want to be going to the nearest village!"

"Why not?"

"You'd probably lose your Earthbender."

"What happened?"

"Long story. Tell you later. Now I must drink." Said Jaz walking over to his pack.

"No you don't!" said Itashi running over to Jaz. "I won't be having someone drinking on my team."

"Then bye! I can't stay sober for long you know!" said Jaz reaching for a bottle.

"You'll learn to." Said Itashi, using his water whip technique to lash the bottle out of Jaz's hands.

"Hey!" shouted Jaz, as the bottle hit the ground and broke, spilling its contents all over the forest floor. "My sake!"

"Let's go to another town then."

"But! My sake!"

"Leave it. I'll let you drink after we get to eat." Said Itashi, making a triangle with his hands, as the water from the stream parted, leaving a dry pathway across. "Follow me."

Jaz walked behind Itashi, cursing all the way to the other village.


End file.
